Tiger Lilies hires volunteer as part time mentor

For 15 hours a week, newly hired Tiger Lilies mentor Tiffany Mead will serve as “a guiding light” for fifth- and sixth-grade girls seeking guidance within Cape Girardeau Central Middle School.

Funding for the mentorship program — now in its third year — comes from United Way, Cape Girardeau Public Schools Foundation and other supporters.

Cape Girardeau native and Southeast Missouri State University alumnus Mead said growing up, she desired to have a “big sister” to look up to. This is her opportunity to give that gift to others.

Tiffany Mead

“Because, in all honesty, I love my parents, but kids don’t always tell everything to their parents,” Mead said by phone Friday.

When Mead began volunteering with the organization in February, she said something resonated within her. Mead “just fell in love” with the members of Tiger Lilies, she said.

At the time, Mead said she didn’t stress too much about not being paid; she just wanted to be available to help however she could. But now, Mead said she sees being compensated for part-time work as “just a bonus on top of it.”

“I would do anything to be a part of their lives and to give them what I desired for so many years, to be able to mentor them,” she said. “It’s just one day, you wake up and see a need.”

Mead said she’s gone through a lot of different life experiences, which has positioned her in a place “to be that positive light,” helping to guide the girls through middle school and preparing them for high school.

Her main objective is to be as available to the girls as much as possible, she said.

“I’ll be out there while they’re in recess, throughout the different programs we have on Tuesdays and Thursdays; I’ll be a part of helping with the lessons and being a role model,” she said.

The members of Tiger Lilies need someone they can confide in, someone who is trustworthy and someone they can turn to, she said. “And that’s pretty much what my role will be.”

Mead said whenever she looks at Tiger Lilies, she sees so much of herself reflected. She wants to give what she’s been given — something she never realized she had.

“I just want to sow into their lives everything that I have been able to learn over the years, so that, hopefully, one day they’ll be able to turn around and do the same for other girls,” she said.

Guidance counselor and Tiger Lilies coordinator Becky Wright said because of Mead’s position, the program’s annual budget has increased from $7,500 to almost $16,000.

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